The Day Everything Ended
by CaelanshipsDestiel247
Summary: It's a day of carnage.  What is one more victim in the grand scheme of things?  Everything to the people who love them.  NaruSasu yaoi tragedy.  September 11th remembrance fic
1. What Could Go Wrong?

**Chapter 1: What Could Go Wrong?**

**XXXXXXX3**

**September 11, 2001, 5:55 am, a high-class apartment in Upper Manhattan**

"**Hey. Hey. Dobe…"**

"**Mmph… Five minutes, temee…"**

"**Every morning we go through this. Wake up, we have work."**

"**Fuck it…"**

"**You want me to get Furyu?"**

"**Goddammit, I'm up… Fucker…"**

**Uchiha Sasuke laughed as his lover Uzumaki Naruto sat up, looking like someone had shaved his head and put a bunch of spiky yellow cotton balls in place of hair. Naruto was never a morning person, but today was worse, as they had spent most of yesterday, which was their tenth anniversary together (they'd been together since junior year in Konoha High School), fucking each other's brains out. Well, when they weren't working, or going out to dinner in honor of the same aforementioned occasion.**

**Sasuke, on the other hand, had always been an early riser, something that never varied no matter how late he stayed up. That pissed off Naruto to no end, but he couldn't do anything about it. Sasuke was Sasuke, Naruto was Naruto, and that was all there was to it.**

**XXXXXXXXXXX3**

**Sasuke was in the kitchen making a traditional Japanese breakfast with rice porridge and all when Naruto finally came down, his tie askew and his hair still rumpled. He took one look around and blanched.**

"**Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?"**

"**Making breakfast," said the raven-haired man, puzzled. "Why?"**

"**Sasuke, I love you, and in my eyes you're perfect," said Naruto, kissing his lover, "except for the fact that you can't cook worth shit."**

**Sasuke rolled his eyes.**

"**Just because you're the head chef and manager of Windows on the World doesn't mean everyone else's cooking is shitty."**

"**It doesn't," Naruto agreed, "but you really **_**can't**_** cook."**

"**I learned from you, so what does that say about your cooking?" retorted the raven-haired man with a smirk.**

**Naruto snorted.**

"**Please. The only reason you ever come to Windows on the World is so you can enjoy my cooking."**

"**And so I can see your beautiful shining face," Sasuke reminded him, smiling.**

"**That too," amended the blonde, mollified.**

**At that moment their cat Furyu walked into the room, stretching her body languidly. Naruto eyed her with dislike.**

"**I **_**swear**_** that damn cat has had it in for me ever since we got her…"**

"**Oh please," snorted Sasuke. "Now eat the food that I made with love for you or I swear I'm not gonna have sex with you tonight, and you remember how much you enjoyed last night..." He kissed Naruto as he set down a plate of eggs and porridge and fish down in front of him before dishing a plate up for himself.**

"**You play dirty," pouted Naruto as he dug in.**

**Sasuke smiled as he sat down beside the younger but slightly taller blonde.**

"**That's why you love me, dobe."**

**XXXXXXXX3**

**7:55 am, the basement of the World Trade Center complex**

"**Air! Oh sweet fresh air!" cried Naruto dramatically, getting down on his knees, opening his arms and raising his head toward the ceiling.**

"**Get up, usuratonkachi, people are staring," hissed Sasuke, smacking the blonde in the back of the head.**

"**Well, if I hadn't been sandwiched between that drunk hobo and the fat guy with sweat stains on his shirt-"**

"**Yeah, we get the point, Naruto, now get up," said the raven-haired man, dragging his lover to his feet and toward the elevators.**

"**Itai, Sasuke, you're crushing my hand!" whined Naruto, trying to free said appendage from Sasuke's vise-like grip.**

"**Sorry," he apologized, releasing Naruto's hand. The blonde rubbed it vigorously, trying to get some feeling back into it. "Gomen," he added to his vice-president Hyuuga Neji as he and Naruto squeezed in. Neji looked at him weird.**

"**Uh, Uchiha-san, are you all right?" he asked.**

**Sasuke raised an eyebrow while Naruto snickered.**

"**Yes I am. Why?"**

"**You never ever say excuse me to anyone, temee," whispered Naruto, grinning wickedly. "Maybe you bumped your head last night in the process of- itai!"**

"**Shut up, Naruto," growled Sasuke, moving his foot back to its original position, "or I won't go through said process with you again in this lifetime."**

**Naruto whined for a bit but otherwise shut up, at least until they got to the lobby. Once the elevator doors opened he took off running across the highly polished tile floor. Sasuke groaned and hurried to catch up with Naruto.**

"**Wait, dobe!" he called, catching the blonde by his elbow.**

"**Sorry," said Naruto with a sheepish grin. "I got a little carried away."**

"**That," replied Sasuke, "is an understatement."**

**They rode the elevator together up to the 101****st**** floor, where Sasuke had to get off, and then they kissed each other good-bye.**

"**Love you, koishii," said Naruto, kissing his lover's neck and making him gasp.**

**Sasuke glowered at the blonde before smiling softly and going to his office as the president of Cantor Fitzgerald. Naruto rode up to the 106****th**** floor alone.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**8:30 am, 106****th**** floor, Windows on the World restaurant, North Tower**

"**Dammit Sakura, you forgot to put in the rosemary!" shouted Naruto, grimacing at the taste of the butternut squash soup he put in his mouth.**

"**I-I'm sorry, Naruto!" squealed Sakura, looking terrified. When Naruto didn't like something, there was no telling what he'd do. "I'll rectify that right away!"**

**After chewing out a few more chefs and taking compliments from a few satisfied customers, Naruto went into his office, where he had a great view of the south tower and the Statue of Liberty. He sighed, putting his head against the glass. He liked his job, but at this moment he wanted to be elsewhere. He didn't really care where, as long as Sasuke came with him.**

**His mind wandered back to the amazing night they'd had together…**

***Flashback***

"**Ano, I've waited for so long!" Naruto whined at the bathroom door. "What are you doing?"**

**Just then the door opened, and Naruto nearly fainted from loss of blood.**

"**What're you staring at, loser?" Sasuke smirked, his left hand on his hip and his right arm resting on the door frame. He was dressed in a short kimono that just barely covered his ass, and hanging from his obi was a set of police handcuffs.**

"**Come on, moron, stop staring and fuck me," he growled, pulling Naruto's shirt off and loosening his belt.**

"**If you say so," Naruto whispered evilly, capturing Sasuke's lips before moving down to bite his neck, drawing a breathy moan from the raven-haired man.**

**Then he forced his lover to kneel down on the floor, ripped off the kimono, and handcuffed him to the bed, locking the cuffs tightly, not worrying about the slight gasp of pain… If it wasn't rough, neither he nor Sasuke could get off.**

"**Mm, what have we here?" the blonde sneered, turning his boyfriend around so that they were face-to-face. "Is that a rock hard erection just for me?" He stroked the head of Sasuke's swollen member with his thumb, whilst sucking each small pink nipple in turn, eliciting longing moans from the smaller man.**

**Sasuke thrust his body forward into Naruto's caress.**

"**Please…"**

"**How badly do you want it?" Naruto whispered in his lover's ear.**

"**N-Naruto, please… Take me…" whimpered Sasuke.**

"**Not good enough, Sasuke," growled Naruto. "How badly do you want it?"**

"**Goddammit, dobe, fuck me until I can't stand! Does that work for ohhh…"**

**And then his member was inside Naruto's mouth, and he was panting as the blonde man's tongue did things that should have been illegal to his body. With every brush of the tongue Sasuke felt himself drawing nearer to completion…**

**And then it stopped. He mewled in protest, and then he was turned around and slammed into the bedpost. Without a second's hesitation, Naruto was inside of him, filling him to the brink. The sudden intrusion hurt, and Sasuke cried out. Naruto clapped his left hand over the raven's mouth, grabbed his lover's penis with the right, drew his member out, and then slammed it back in.**

**Sasuke thought he was going to pass out from the pain as Naruto continuously pulled almost all the way out and then slammed back into him, going faster and faster, all the while pumping his member like a fire hose.**

**Finally the raven-haired man came with a muffled scream, his seed coating Naruto's hand. Naruto couldn't hold it back and came inside of Sasuke, the warm sticky white liquid filling his smaller lover and dripping from the saturated entrance.**

***End Flashback***

**Oh yeah, last night had been highly enjoyable… Naruto looked forward to whatever they were going to do together tonight.**

"**Naruto?"**

**Naruto turned around to see his friend Rock Lee standing in the doorway.**

"**Yeah?"**

"**The customers want to compliment you personally on your wonderful rice porridge recipe! Come on, and look youthful!" He bounced out the door.**

**Naruto sighed. Boy, leave it to Bushy Brows to ruin a wonderful moment… And to make matters worse, Naruto now had another rock-hard erection that he had no time to get rid of. He tried to think of something disgusting…**

**Oh ew, a nude picture of Bushy Brows was not what he needed. At least the erection was gone though… Naruto put on a smile and went out to greet the guests.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**There is chapter one. Yes, I added some extraneous stuff, but hopefully it doesn't detract too much from the overall story once the action gets going... In fact, I'm hoping it in a way emphasizes the tragic nature of these horrible events. Review and please look out for chapter two, people!**


	2. Impact

**Chapter 2: Impact**

**XXXXXXXXXXX3**

**8:46 am, 101****st**** floor, Cantor Fitzgerald offices, north tower**

**Sasuke sighed and then winced a bit as he sat down. Naruto was going to get it tonight, though how Sasuke was going to give it to him when his ass was so fucking sore that he could barely sit was beyond him at this moment in time. He'd been extremely uncomfortable during this morning's meeting and it had been all he could do not to fidget.**

**No sooner had he sat down in his chair when there was a knock on the door.**

"**Come in," he said.**

"**Uh, U-Uchiha-san," stuttered his secretary Hyuuga Hinata, a cousin of Neji's, shifting nervously, "y-your b-b-boss is on l-line three…"**

**Sasuke inwardly groaned.**

"**Thank you, Hinata, I'll take it in a minute…"**

**Hinata walked out, shutting the door behind her. Sasuke hesitated for a minute before picking up the phone… Uchiha Itachi, his older brother, was no one to be trifled with.**

"**Cantor Fitzgerald Incorporated, World Trade Center, Sasuke Uchiha speaking, how may I help you?"**

"**Why hello, little brother!" said Itachi, and Sasuke heartily wished he had thrown the phone out of his window instead of answering it. "How is it all going today?"**

"**Itachi, if the only reason you called was to chat, get off the line," snapped Sasuke. "I'm supposed to be receiving a call from-"**

"**Sabaku Building Company? I had them postpone their call until eleven."**

**Sasuke growled angrily. He didn't know how his older brother had gotten to be his boss, given that Itachi's maturity level was at times highly questionable.**

"**So what do you want, Itachi?"**

"**To chat!" said his older brother airily. "How is life treating you? How are you and Fishcake doing? Have you fired any minions yet?"**

"**Goddammit, Itachi, if you don't say something that has a marginal level of importance to my job of running this office, I am going to hang up right now. And don't call Naruto 'Fishcake.'"**

"**You're so serious, little brother," said Itachi disappointedly. "You need to lighten up a bit…"**

**At that moment Sasuke heard a loud noise outside his window.**

"**Look, Itachi, can I call you back later?" he snapped, carrying the phone over to the window. "I, unlike you, have important business to tend to as the president of Cantor Fitzgerald, and I don't have time to be leisurely chatting."**

"**But otouto…"**

**Sasuke looked out of his office window, and he had just enough time to say "Oh fuck" before the plane's nose burrowed into the north side of the floor below him. The impact knocked him off his feet and sent him flying into the wall. Dazed, he slumped to the floor. Over the phone he distantly heard Itachi yelling his name, asking what the hell was going on, and then the line went dead.**

"**Itai," he moaned before passing out.**

**XXXXXXXXXX3**

**8:46 am, 106****th**** floor, Windows on the World, north tower**

**Naruto had just finished taking the morning rush and he was exhausted. Akamichi Chouji had almost eaten out his kitchen, so he'd sent Sakura and Lee to get more ingredients. At the moment he was sitting at his desk, enjoying a well-deserved lull in the customer flow.**

'_**Sasuke…'**_

**The raven-haired beauty was torturing him. It sucked that he wouldn't see his lover until lunchtime… but in the meantime, he could reminisce about their absolutely divine night together. He smiled pervertedly to himself.**

**Suddenly a roaring noise startled him out of his daydreaming. Turning around, he saw a jet liner flying low over the tops of skyscrapers. He absently thought that whoever was flying the plane would be in big trouble when they got to the airport for flying so dangerously low…**

**And the airplane was flying toward him. As he watched in disbelief, the nose of the plane grew larger and larger…**

**When it hit, maybe a few floors below him, the impact blew out all the windows in Naruto's office and in the main dining room. It also knocked the blonde off his feet, and he hit his head on the hard piece of amethyst crystal that he kept on his desk.**

**Naruto's last coherent thought before he passed out was **_**'I'm sorry, Sasuke… I love you…'**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**So what is Itachi going to do next? I know if it were me I'd head down immediately and find out what happened, instead of wasting time sitting there. Who knows what Itachi might do, though…**


	3. Against the Clock

**Chapter 3: Against the Clock**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**8:50 am, Upper Manhattan, NYC**

**Itachi had been trying to call Sasuke back for about five minutes, and had been having no success, when a pounding came on his door. Rushing to the door, he opened it to see his kindly elderly neighbor Sabaku Chiyo with a terrified look in her eyes.**

"**Itachi, have you heard?"**

"**Heard what?" said Itachi, dread pooling in his stomach.**

"**The north tower of the World Trade Center has been hit!"**

**Itachi couldn't breathe. The north tower… Cantor Fitzgerald…**

**Sasuke.**

**Oh shit, Sasuke was in there. His little brother might be hurt, dying… dead…**

**No, Itachi wouldn't let himself think that. Without a word he grabbed his bike and rushed down the stairs, all thoughts except those of his little brother wiped out.**

**XXXXXXXXXX3**

**8:58 am, 106****th**** floor, Windows on the World, north tower**

**When Naruto came to the restaurant was filled with smoke. He went to the kitchen, took a wet rag, and put it over his mouth and nose to keep most of the smoke out. So far, he was still alive… But when he tried to move it, his right arm hurt, a deep throbbing ache. It was bleeding, and no doubt fractured from the shock of the explosion. Around him were injured friends, people he had worked with ever since he moved here…**

"**Please somebody help me!" cried someone from the other side of the room, and he spied Yamanaka Ino, one of his coworkers and a girl that he didn't like much. She had been pinned by a dish cabinet, which had fallen on top of her, pinning her legs in place. When Naruto tried to move it, his shoulder screamed in pain, and Ino cried out.**

"**Ah, it hurts! Please!" she sobbed.**

**Just then the kitchen door opened, and out staggered Naruto's friend Nara Shikamaru. He was clutching a dish towel to the side of his head, which seemed to be bleeding heavily.**

"**Help me out, Shika!" cried Naruto desperately, and together they lifted the crockery cabinet. Ino's legs were smashed beyond repair, and she screamed as Shikamaru threw her over his shoulder and started down the stairs with Naruto.**

**About five floors down, Naruto left Shikamaru and Ino.**

"**I'm going to go see if Sasuke got out!" he yelled over the crackling of flames that started two floors down.**

"**Are you crazy?" Shikamaru yelled back. "You're going to die!"**

"**So are you if you don't hurry up and get yourselves out of here!" said Naruto. "Here, take these."**

**He took some rags that he'd grabbed on the way out of the restaurant and a bottle of water. Soaking the rags, he handed one to Shikamaru and one to Ino.**

"**Put these over your faces to block out the smoke!" he shouted. "And no matter what keep going!"**

"**All right, good luck, Naruto!"**

"**You too, Shika!"**

**Putting a third rag around the handle of the door, Naruto pulled. He stepped into the hallway and was assaulted instantly by the smell of smoke and blood.**

**Parts of the floor were on fire, he could see immediately. Bodies lay strewn all over, and people were all over, either helping to put out the fires, or else just wandering around in a daze, or perhaps comforting each other. Many had out cell phones and were talking to their relatives. The messages weren't hopeful.**

"**Maddy, baby, I just wanted to say good bye. Tell the girls Daddy loves them very much…"**

"**It's no use, Jim, the stairway is blocked, and we can't get out…"**

**The stairway was blocked? No, there had to be a way out…**

**At that moment Shikamaru appeared on Naruto's left side, still carrying Ino.**

"**It's no use, Naruto," he said quietly. "The stairway is blocked by fire and debris, and there's no way we can climb down."**

"**No, that can't be true…"**

"**You can go see for yourself," Shikamaru replied, "but the stairs are blocked, and we're trapped."**

**Naruto swore under his breath and then raced down the hallway toward Sasuke's office. About halfway there he tripped over a body. It was Neji, his head nearly severed by shards of glass. Naruto shuddered.**

'_**Don't you dare be dead, Sasuke…'**_

**He reached the door and pushed it open part way before it was stopped by something heavy. Stepping in he saw the samurai armor that Sasuke's parents had given them one year for Christmas. Naruto couldn't stand the thing being in the apartment, preferring more modern Japanese styles, so Sasuke had put it in his office.**

**Stepping farther in, he took a look around. Sasuke always kept the office meticulously clean, so it was shocking to see it all in ruins. The file cabinet was tipped on its side, and the bookcase had fallen over and cracked. The books themselves, along with priceless little treasures were strewn about the floor. Naruto almost stepped on the head of a broken porcelain geisha as he went farther in.**

**Sasuke was on the other side of the desk, lying motionless on the floor. The phone lay next to him. Naruto dragged his boyfriend out from behind the desk and laid him out flat on the floor. The raven-haired man had a gash that was bleeding across his forehead, and when Naruto took hold of his shoulder he winced, onyx eyes fluttering open to meet Naruto's sky blue ones.**

"**N-Naruto…"**

"**I'm here, koishii," soothed Naruto, stroking Sasuke's cheek gently. But the raven-haired man sat up suddenly as he remembered the impact. He had to make sure that his employees were all right…**

**The second Sasuke sat up, a wave of dizziness and nausea came over him, and the blinding pain in his head wiped out everything else. He must have passed out temporarily, because the next thing he remembered was Naruto shaking him, frantically saying "Me o samasu, koishii… Douzo, me o samasu…" He focused with difficulty on his lover's face.**

"**I can't get up… I think I have a concussion…"**

**Before he could say anything more, Naruto had picked him up bridal style. Too weak to do anything himself at the moment, Sasuke put his arms around the blonde's neck as said blonde walked out into the main office.**

"**Naruto, before the crash, Itachi called… You have to call him back…"**

"**Sure, where's your cell phone? Mine's upstairs."**

"**My back pocket…"**

**Naruto grinned a little.**

"**Are you asking me to cop a feel in front of your employees? Wow, Sasuke, that blow to the head must've messed you up more than I thought."**

**Sasuke growled.**

"**Goddammit, Naruto…"**

"**OK, OK, I'm doing it," said the blonde, setting his boyfriend down and putting a hand into his back pocket. Then he was dialing Itachi's home phone.**

"**This is Itachi Uchiha. I'm not here right now, so please leave a message."**

**Naruto cursed and tried Itachi's cell phone. He hoped fervently that it would work as it started ringing.**

**XXXXXXXXX3**

**9:00 am, street outside of the World Trade Center complex**

"**What do you mean I can't go up?" Itachi shouted at the officer. "My little brother is the president of the Cantor Fitzgerald offices! I have to see if he's all right!"**

"**Sir, we are not allowing anyone except for emergency responders to enter the building," said the police officer. "If you would please step off to the side…"**

**Itachi was about to protest when his cell phone started ringing. The caller ID was Sasuke's cell phone. He pressed talk.**

"**Sasuke!"**

"**No, Itachi, it's Naruto."**

**Itachi's heart sank.**

"**But where's Sasuke?"**

"**He's right here with me. We're on the 101****st**** floor."**

"**Is he OK?"**

"**Well, he has a concussion."**

"**Goddammit, Naruto, let me talk to him!" yelled Itachi. From the other end he heard a moaned "itai" and instantly regretted yelling. "Sorry…"**

"**Yeah, here he is," said Naruto. A second later, Itachi heard the blessed sound of his little brother's voice, though it was weak.**

"**Nii-san?"**

"**Oh my god, Sasuke, I was so fucking worried!" said Itachi. "Are you all right?"**

"**Nn… My head hurts… And I feel sick…"**

"**Listen," said Itachi, his heart pounding, "can you get out?"**

**There was a long pause, and then Sasuke said, "I don't know."**

**From the other side Naruto was talking.**

"**What is he saying?"**

**Another long silence.**

"**Itachi, it's me, Naruto. We can't get out. Shikamaru tried the stairs, but he couldn't get down. The elevators don't work, and the stairs are blocked by debris and fire. We're trapped up here."**

**Itachi went cold. No way out… His little brother and his brother's boyfriend were trapped in the building in front of him, and he couldn't do a thing about it.**

**Just then, he heard a screaming engine, and on the other end Naruto yelled "What the hell is that!" Itachi looked up just in time to see a huge airliner crash into the south tower. He was frozen in shock and cold realization.**

**This was no accident… This was a terrorist attack.**

"**Holy shit," he faintly heard Sasuke say, echoing his exact thoughts.**

**XXXXXXXXXXX3**

**Chapter three, people. Did you know that there were at least ten children on board the flights that crashed? What kind of heartless bastard kills innocent children? They hadn't even begun to live their lives yet, and the youngest was two years old! If there's a Hell, there's a special place in it for people who kill children.**


	4. The Jumpers

**Chapter 4: The Jumpers**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**9:05 am, 101****st**** floor, north tower, Cantor Fitzgerald offices**

**The people of Cantor Fitzgerald could see people falling past the windows. Some people screamed as they went down, and others were just silent. Those by the windows watched the falling people hit the ground.**

"**Oh my god," said one man. "Did you see that?"**

"**See what?" Shikamaru asked.**

"**That woman, there's nothing left of her…"**

**At that moment another person fell past the window.**

**Naruto cried out in shock… The person was a coworker of his, Jaime Concepcion. He wanted to look away but he was inexorably drawn toward the window. He got there just in time to see Jaime's body disintegrate as it hit the concrete of the plaza.**

"**Holy shit," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.**

"**What's wrong, Naruto?" asked Sasuke in Japanese, coming to his side and putting an arm around his shoulders.**

"**You shouldn't be up," Naruto replied quietly in their native language. "Moving around makes a concussion worse."**

"**Hn."**

"**Don't 'hn' me, jackass," said Naruto, but the irritation he meant to convey was ruined by the quavering of his voice. "Sasuke, do you think we'll make it? Answer me truthfully."**

**Sasuke hesitated.**

"**No, Naruto," he said softly. "You said so yourself that the stairs and the elevators are out of commission. And judging from the heat in here, helicopters won't be able to get up here to save us. It's too late for us."**

**Naruto nodded numbly. The only comforting part of that was that he wasn't going to die alone, and even that was kind of depressing.**

**Sasuke sank down to the floor with a sigh, holding his head with one hand. Naruto sat down beside him.**

"**You know, the last time I saw my parents, I got in a huge fight with them," Sasuke murmured. "They were pushing me to get a girlfriend, and I told them I was gay, and the scene was just horrible. Mom was crying, and Father shouted that he was going to kill the person who'd turned his son into a faggot… I told him to fuck off, it's my life, he had no say in it, and then I walked out. That was the last time I saw them… We're on barely speaking terms now, but…"**

**Naruto hugged his boyfriend and kissed him on the cheek.**

"**We probably have time, why don't you call them?"**

"**They're in Tokyo, Naruto. It's the middle of the night."**

"**Itachi's probably called them by now, or emailed them or something, and they'd feel bad if their memory of their last conversation with you was an argument…"**

**Sasuke nodded.**

"**Yeah…"**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**10:07 pm, Tokyo, Japan**

_**Brrring brrring!**_

**Uchiha Fugaku growled and sat up.**

"**Who the hell is calling at this time of night!" he snapped.**

"**It's probably Itachi," said his wife Mikoto, sitting up beside him.**

"**But he has more sense than to call when we're in bed…"**

**He picked up the phone.**

"**Why the hell are you calling this late, Itachi!"**

"**Uhm, hi, Dad…"**

**Fugaku knew that voice. He hadn't heard it for seven years…**

"**Sasuke?"**

"**Sasuke!" Mikoto gasped. She ran into the living room and picked up the other phone. "Sasuke, honey, it's me, Mom!"**

"**Hey, Mom," said Sasuke. "Look, have you seen the news yet?"**

"**No, why?"**

"**Turn it on."**

**Full of dread, Fugaku picked up the TV remote. The TV screen was instantly filled by the image of smoking buildings.**

"**Breaking news from New York City, two planes have just crashed into the World Trade Center… Sources tell us that there might be hundreds trapped above the impact zones in both buildings…"**

"**What are you trying to tell us, honey?" Mikoto asked.**

"**We can't get out. The offices Naruto and I work at are above the impact zone."**

"**Don't be ridiculous," snapped Fugaku. "Even if your offices are above the impact zone, you can still get rescued."**

"**No, Dad," replied Sasuke in a matter-of-fact tone, "we can't. The stairs are blocked by flames and debris, the elevators are out, and the heat is so bad that air rescue would be impossible. We're going to die here."**

"**Don't say that, Sasuke!" cried Mikoto. "Itachi wouldn't let you die…"**

"**No he wouldn't, but he can't get in. He's outside in the plaza. I already called him. The only people who are allowed in are the emergency responders, and even if they could get here, it wouldn't be in time. I just wanted to say that I love you both, and that I'm sorry that the last time we talked had to be in this kind of situation. Bury me and Naruto together…"**

"**Stop it, Sasuke!" shouted Fugaku, seriously scared.**

"**I'm just telling the truth," replied their youngest son. "We're going to die here, and the only question is what gets to us first, the smoke or the flames or the building collapsing."**

**Just then there was a screaming from the other end of the line, and Sasuke swore.**

"**What's happening?" screamed Mikoto.**

"**Please Mom, don't scream. My head hurts enough already. People are jumping… At first it was from the upper floors, but now the people in my office are starting to jump too."**

"**Please don't do that, baby!"**

"**For fuck's sakes, Mom!" Sasuke snapped. "Any way you look at it we're going to die, and it's just a matter of how. I'm sorry for swearing, but you need to get the situation. I have to go, Mom. I love you… And Dad?"**

"**Yes?" said Fugaku desperately, hoping to keep his youngest son on the line.**

"**I forgive you, and I'm sorry I couldn't please you."**

"**No, Sasuke, I'm proud of you," said the older man, tears forming in his eyes. "You stood up for yourself, and I was wrong. You're the president of a major company, and you're successful in life. I couldn't ask for more, and it doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is, as long as you make a good life for yourself and those you love."**

**There was a silence on the other end of the line, and when Sasuke spoke again he sounded like he was trying not to cry.**

"**Thanks Dad… Good-bye…"**

**Sasuke disconnected, and the second he did the phone started to ring again. Fugaku answered it.**

"**Yes!"**

"**Father, it's me," said Itachi. "Have you seen the news?"**

"**Yes, we can see it right now," said Mikoto from the living room phone. "Sasuke called."**

"**He called?" said Itachi, shocked. "Last time I talked with him, he was still unwilling to talk with you, afraid of what you'd say about him and Naruto."**

"**Well, he called," said Fugaku. "Itachi, is it true that everyone above the impact zone is trapped?"**

**Itachi seemed to be hesitating, but then he took a deep breath.**

"**Yes, Father. The flames are so hot that no rescue aircraft can get to the survivors of the initial crash. And the stairs are impassable because of debris and the extreme temperature of the fire. I just got the word from a fireman who tried to get through and was driven back by the heat."**

**Fugaku sat down hard on the bed.**

"**So the people up there have no chance of survival?" he asked numbly.**

"**Yes. I'm so sorry, Mother, Father."**

"**It's not your fault, Itachi!" said Mikoto. "It's those horrible terrorists!" Then she began to sob. "Oh, my poor baby boy… My sweet little boy… He's going to die alone, so far from home…"**

"**Not alone, Mother," said Itachi softly. "Naruto's there with him."**

**A pall hung over the family.**

**XXXXX3**

**Not exactly a happy way to die is it? Well, there is no happy way, but seriously, not talking with your parents for seven years, and then only calling them when you're about to die… Jeez…**


	5. We'll Die Together

**Chapter 5: We'll Die Together**

**XXXXXXXXX3**

**9:13 am, New York City, 101****st**** floor, north tower, Cantor Fitzgerald offices**

**When Sasuke hung up, he let himself go. All the sadness of his parents' rejection of him all those years ago and the lost time with them, all the relief that they had finally accepted his homosexuality, the fear of dying, the frustration of not being able to do anything to change his and Naruto's fates… He cried, and Naruto held him and cried with him for a long while.**

**Finally the crying stopped, and Naruto brought Sasuke's chin up so that they were looking into each other's eyes.**

"**Ne, Sasuke, what say we jump?"**

"**Are you kidding? Did you see what happened to those people who jumped?"**

"**It's either that or we'll get burned alive or die of asphyxiation. How we die is really the only choice we have in the matter."**

**Hesitantly, Sasuke nodded.**

"**All right…"**

"**One more question…"**

"**Nani?"**

"**Would you like to make love one last time before we do this?"**

**Naruto watched Sasuke's face split into a small smile.**

"**I guess now is as good a time as ever, seeing as we're already dead for all intents and purposes…"**

**Naruto rolled his eyes.**

"**That's the spirit…" he said, gently picking up his lover bridal style and carrying him off.**

**XXXXXXX3**

**9:35 am, outside the World Trade Center**

**Itachi sat on the concrete wall outside the north tower of the World Trade Center, tears filling his eyes. When they were young, he'd promised Sasuke that he'd always protect him, because that was what big brothers did. Now, he was stuck out here while Sasuke and Naruto waited for certain death along with hundreds of others who had been trapped above the impact zones.**

**It should be him in there, dying. Sasuke still had so much to live for. It wasn't fair…**

**Grimly he set about making funeral arrangements for two. It would most likely be a closed-casket funeral. Then he changed his mind. Only one casket… Naruto and Sasuke would not want to be separated, and it seemed fitting to have them buried in the same casket.**

**XXXXXXXXXXX3**

**9:37 am, 101****st**** floor, north tower, Cantor Fitzgerald offices**

**Naruto closed the door behind them and set Sasuke down on a couch in the small cozy waiting room. He then proceeded to strip his boyfriend slowly and tenderly, kissing every part of him that he could reach. The raven-haired man moaned softly, bringing Naruto's penis to attention. He captured Sasuke's lips, and they tongue-wrestled for a bit, and all the while Naruto was still sensuously touching his lover's perfect body, memorizing the feel of it, and the taste of him.**

**While they were still kissing, Naruto reached down and pulled his pants off, and then removed Sasuke's. They were naked and kissing passionately, erection rubbing against erection. Then, without losing momentum, the blonde-haired man picked up his smaller lover and laid him out on the couch, and got in between Sasuke's legs.**

"**Are you ready?"**

**Sasuke nodded.**

**Then Naruto's large penis was inside of him, filling him to an unbearable but pleasurable capacity. The blonde stopped when he was all the way in to give Sasuke a little time to adjust, and then he began rhythmically pumping himself in and out. At the same time, he was nibbling the dark-haired man's neck, making him pant and moan.**

"**Please, Naruto…"**

"**Am I hurting you?"**

"**Go faster…"**

**Naruto hesitated.**

"**Are you sure? The concussion-"**

"**Won't matter in a little while anyways," finished Sasuke. "Now fuck me. This is our last time, and I want to enjoy the feel of you inside me."**

"**Uchiha Sasuke, eloquent as always," Naruto laughed. "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you."**

**And then Naruto was moving in and out at a quicker pace, his thrusts bringing Sasuke closer to the brink. At the same time, the blonde grabbed his lover's penis, and stroked the head of it gently. This made the smaller man buck involuntarily, spearing himself further on Naruto's large member. He let out a muffled cry.**

"**N-Naruto…"**

**Their bodies were moving in synch with one another, arms and legs intertwined. Finally the combination of the stroking and the thrusts was too much, and Sasuke came, gasping his lover's name. The sexy image was too much for Naruto, and his seed filled his dark-haired lover, the excess dripping out of the already saturated hole.**

"**I love you so much, Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, kissing his boyfriend on the lips.**

"**I love you too, Naruto," rejoined the raven, his lips soft and sweet upon Naruto's own.**

**Finally they redressed themselves, straightening out their rumpled clothes.**

"**We should call Itachi," Naruto said, "to tell him what we're doing."**

"**No," said Sasuke. "We don't have to tell him what we're doing. We do need him to take care of Furyu though…"**

"**He'll know soon enough, even if we don't tell him. It would be better for him if he knows what we're doing," argued Naruto gently.**

**Unwillingly Sasuke picked up his cell phone and dialed Itachi one last time.**

**XXXXXXXXXX3**

**9:58 am, plaza outside of the World Trade Center complex**

**Itachi had his cell phone out and was dialing Sasuke when Sasuke's number showed up on his screen under "incoming call." He connected.**

"**Sasuke?"**

"**Yeah, it's me, Itachi," said his little brother, but a change seemed to have occurred in his voice. He sounded calm, almost peaceful, as opposed to his earlier tone, filled with pain and fear. "Itachi, I have a request to make of you, and we have to tell you something."**

"**Yes, anything."**

"**All the stuff in our apartment now belongs to you, Mom, and Dad. Please take care of Furyu for us…"**

"**Yes, of course," said Itachi, fighting tears.**

"**Next, Naruto and I have decided that we want to be buried with each other, as in the same casket."**

"**I figured as much…"**

**Sasuke laughed a little.**

"**Finally, Itachi, we have-"**

"**HOLY SHIT IT'S COLLAPSING!"**

"**OH MY GOD!"**

"**Itachi, what's going on!" Sasuke said urgently.**

**Itachi looked up in time to see the south tower of the World Trade Center start to fall. He barely had time to take cover under a news van before debris and dust washed over everything, blanketing all of it in gray.**

"**Itachi? Itachi!"**

"**I'm here, little brother," said Itachi shakily. "The south tower just collapsed."**

**The sound of a door opening was clear in the background, along with a muttered "itai." Sasuke must not have seen the tower fall… This wasn't going to be pretty.**

**Sure enough, his little brother gasped a second later.**

"**Holy shit, you mean it just fell?"**

"**Yeah."**

**Itachi heard a faint hurried exchange of words between Sasuke and Naruto, and then his little brother was on the line again.**

"**That settles things. Itachi, we're jumping."**

"**What? No!" shouted Itachi, shocked and horrified, both by the collapse of the south tower and by his little brother's statement.**

"**It's either be asphyxiated by smoke, burned alive by flames, be crushed when this tower falls, or we choose our own deaths by jumping or some other form of suicide. I want to have some sort of say in this matter."**

"**Goddammit, Sasuke!" Itachi roared, climbing out from under the vehicle. Through the smoke he could just barely see the top of the north tower.**

"**Itachi-nii-san…"**

**Itachi froze.**

"**I love you. Don't beat yourself up over this. There really is nothing you can do, except bury me and Naruto in the same casket back in Tokyo."**

"**Sasuke…"**

"**Promise me that much, dammit!" snapped Sasuke.**

"**I… I promise, Otouto…"**

"**Arigato, Nii-san… Tell Mom and Dad I didn't die alone… We'll be down in a little bit."**

**The phone disconnected, and Itachi was left standing there with the phone to his ear and with tears streaming down his cheeks. He dialed Mom and Dad, though he didn't know why. Fugaku and Mikoto picked up immediately.**

"**Itachi, what's happening?"**

"**Dad, the south tower just fell. Sasuke and Naruto… They're about to jump. Sasuke says it's because they want to have a choice in how they die…"**

"**Get him on the line and tell him no!"**

**Just then something landed nearby, missing Itachi by inches. He walked over and picked it up. It was the smashed remains of Sasuke's cell phone.**

"**I can't," he said grimly. "Sasuke's cell phone is broken."**

"**How do you know?" demanded Mikoto frantically.**

"**It's right here in my hand," murmured Itachi numbly, clutching his little brother's cell phone to him.**

**On the other end Mikoto sobbed. Itachi cried silently with her.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**10:02 am, 101****st**** floor, north tower, Cantor Fitzgerald offices**

**Naruto held his hand out for Sasuke to take and he took it.**

"**Are you ready?" he asked softly.**

"**Yes, I'm ready."**

**Naruto kissed his boyfriend and linked their fingers together.**

"**Not even death will separate us," he said. Tears sparkled in his eyes, and Sasuke felt a tear roll down his own cheek. Then they climbed up onto the window ledge and turned around so their backs were facing the outside.**

"**Ichi…" started Sasuke.**

"**Ni…" Naruto continued.**

"**San!" they shouted together and let themselves fall backwards out of the window.**

**The fall only took ten seconds. The impact killed them instantly.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**10:02 am, plaza outside the World Trade Center complex**

**Itachi was still crying when he heard a faint shout from above. Two figures holding hands fell backwards out of a window on the 101****st**** floor, plummeting toward the ground. Itachi was almost certain of who it was.**

**The two hit the ground about fifteen feet in front of him, and immediately he was running, ignoring the shouts of police officers and the shouts of his parents on the other end of the line. Even before he got there, he knew who the people were.**

**The concrete around Sasuke and Naruto was stained red with their blood, but their bodies were mostly intact despite the long drop, unlike most of the bodies of jumpers. Maybe it wouldn't be a closed casket ceremony after all… Their fingers were tightly woven together, even in death, and in Sasuke's left hand was a piece of paper. In a daze, Itachi took the paper from his brother's hand. On it was a hastily scrawled message.**

_**I'm sorry Itachi. Please forgive me. Tell Mom and Dad I love them.**_

**Itachi put the note in his pocket and gathered his little brother's corpse to him. Closing his eyes against the onslaught of tears, he screamed at no one in particular, "Goddammit you fuckers, bring him back! Take me instead! Please, bring my brother back…"**

"**Itachi, what's going on?" cried Mikoto. Itachi couldn't answer her because he was crying so hard. He didn't even notice when a news crew ran up and started filming him.**

**Sasuke, his beloved little brother, was dead.**

**XXXXXX3**

**Holy shit. This is making me cry. Please review people, and remember the innocent people who died on September 11****th****, 2001.**


	6. Keep You by My Side

**Chapter 6: Keep You by My Side**

**XXXXXXX3**

**11:03 pm, Tokyo, Japan**

**Mikoto and Fugaku had been talking to Itachi. Now they sat in stunned silence as their eldest son appeared on the TV screen, or at least the back of him, clinging to the body of his little brother. Mikoto hid her face in her hands, and Fugaku sat numb. Just this once, he wished Sasuke had slept in that day… He shook himself. "What ifs" and "I wishes" were not going to bring back his younger son.**

**He turned his attention back to the TV, watching as policemen tried to remove Itachi from the scene and move Naruto and Sasuke's bodies.**

"**No!" their eldest son was yelling. "They wouldn't want to be separated! Goddammit let me go! That's my brother and his boyfriend!"**

**The camera watched as Itachi was led away, followed by police officers carrying their youngest son and his boyfriend's bodies. Sasuke and Naruto's hands were still linked in a vise-like grip, as if they were struggling against being separated, even in death. Fugaku finally broke down and cried, holding Mikoto in his arms.**

**XXXXXXXXXX3**

**10: 27 am, a building near the World Trade Center complex**

**Itachi sat in a room that was being used for survivors of the World Trade Center. His long black hair hung limply around his face, having come out of its neatly tied ponytail some time in the last hour. Grief counselors walked among the survivors, trying to comfort them, but Itachi waved them away. He was so deep in his guilt and in his memories that he didn't even notice when the south tower fell at 10:28. All he could think of was Sasuke.**

**There were memories of when he was five, holding his little brother in his arms for the first time, and the fat little baby hand grabbed his fingers.**

"_**Hi, Sasuke, I'm your big brother Itachi. I promise I'll be a good big brother…"**_

**He was seven, and Sasuke was two, and it was the middle of a loud thunderstorm. He slept in his little brother's room with him, shushing and soothing him until they both went to sleep.**

**Then he was thirteen, and Sasuke was ranting about this stupid kid named Uzumaki Naruto…**

"_**He's such an idiot! And he thinks he's all cool and stuff, but he's just a clumsy big-mouth moron!"**_

**They were sitting in the living room while Mom and Dad were out, and fifteen-year-old Sasuke had something to tell his big brother.**

"_**Itachi, do you remember Uzumaki Naruto?"**_

"_**The kid you hate?"**_

"_**Uh, well, we're actually friends now…"**_

"_**How the hell did that happen?"**_

"_**I dunno, but, uhm, I... I think I'm gay."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**Because I have feelings for Naruto. I like him and want him to be more than a friend."**_

**Meeting Uzumaki Naruto a year later…**

"_**Itachi, meet my boyfriend."**_

"_**Your boyfriend?"**_

"_**Uzumaki Naruto, you idiot. Remember?"**_

"_**Oh, that's right. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Naruto."**_

"_**The pleasure is mine! Don't worry, I'll take care of Sasuke…"**_

"_**You better, kid, that's my little brother you're talking about."**_

"_**Shut up, Itachi. You're embarrassing me…"**_

**A few months later, Sasuke had walked out of the house and never gone back. Itachi had been there for him when he called, crying.**

"_**I want to die…"**_

"_**Did Naruto break up with you! I swear to God I'll wring his neck!"**_

"_**No… I told Mom and Dad about my sexual orientation… and they… they… Oh god, they hate me."**_

"_**Don't say that, Sasuke. I'm sure they love you anyways."**_

"_**Dad told me that he was ashamed of his son being a faggot, and as I walked out he told me that I wasn't allowed to come back until I righted myself."**_

"_**Holy shit… So where are you?"**_

"_**At Naruto's house…"**_

"_**I'll try and talk to Dad, okay? Don't beat yourself up over it, Sasuke. There's nothing wrong with you being gay. Maybe tomorrow he'll be calmed down enough to listen…"**_

"_**You don't understand, Itachi. I don't want to talk to Dad again. I want to get as far away from him as possible."**_

**Years later, Itachi gave Sasuke his first and only job right out of college.**

"_**I've been promoted to CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, and they're looking for a new president."**_

"_**Congratulations, Itachi!"**_

"_**I suggested to the head of the company that he give you the job."**_

"_**I-Itachi, I just graduated, do you really think that's a good idea?"**_

"_**I've seen your leadership and business management skills, Sasuke, and I know you're the right man for the job. And get this… It's in New York City! You and Naruto have always wanted to live there…"**_

"_**So when's the interview?"**_

"_**There is no interview. You already have the job."**_

"_**Holy shit, thanks, Itachi!"**_

**Now Itachi cursed himself. If only Sasuke hadn't taken the job offer. If only they hadn't moved to New York City. If only those planes hadn't crashed where they did…**

**Once Itachi started crying he couldn't stop. He cried for everyone. He cried for Sasuke and Naruto, whose lives had been cut short by tragedy. He cried for the other people who had died in the World Trade Center and would die in the coming days. He cried for himself and the loss of his precious little brother. He cried for his parents, who would be forever burdened by the guilt of not having been more accepting of their youngest son when they still had time.**

**And he cried for the families of the other victims, who would be going through similar things now and in later days.**

_**I'm so sorry, Sasuke…**_

**XXXXXXXXXX3**

**10:46 am, outside the remains of World Trade Center complex**

**Itachi was finally driven home by a kindly police officer who took pity on him, having seen what had happened when Naruto and Sasuke fell. The ride was silent, with Itachi staring blankly out the front windshield.**

"**Here you are, son," said the police officer, letting Itachi out. "Do you need any help getting up to your apartment?"**

"**No," said Itachi faintly. "I'll get there myself…"**

"**Well, you look kind of dazed, and I don't want you having an accident on the way up. Maybe I should escort you."**

**Itachi didn't argue as he was led through the lobby of his apartment building by the officer. People gasped and stared at his dust-covered and bloodstained body, but the police officer held off curious onlookers.**

"**Nothing to see here, folks," he said loudly. "Go back to your business. What floor do you live on, son?" he added to Itachi.**

"**Tenth floor…"**

**The elevator took them up, and when they got to the right door Itachi realized he needed his keys to get in. He searched around in his pockets and found the keys, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't get the key in the slot. The police officer had to take the key from his hands and open the door for him.**

"**You take it easy now, you hear?" he encouraged the shell-shocked man. "You may be called down to the morgue sometime in the next week, and you're going to need to be strong."**

"**Morgue…?" said Itachi, still dazed.**

"**Yes, son, the morgue," said the policeman softly. "You need to identify your brother and his boyfriend's bodies in an official statement."**

**A light briefly sparked in Itachi's eyes.**

"**Sasuke…"**

"**Is that his name?"**

"**Yeah… and his boyfriend Naruto…"**

**Itachi got choked up at that moment and couldn't go on.**

"**Hey, do you want someone in here with you to keep an eye on you?"**

"**Granny Chiyo's down the hall…"**

**The policeman set off and came back a few minutes later with the diminutive old lady. She took one look at Itachi and instantly here motherly instinct kicked into action.**

"**Itachi, what is wrong?"**

"**He just lost his brother," said the policeman for Itachi, and Chiyo-baachan gasped.**

"**Not Sasuke!"**

**Itachi nodded numbly.**

"**You poor dear… Thank you officer, I'll take care of him," she added kindly to the police officer. "Itachi, go get in the shower, and I'll wash your clothes. How does that sound, dear?"**

**Itachi turned and walked zombie-like toward the bathroom, taking off his shirt and unbuckling his belt as he did so. He was eager to be rid of his clothes, which were covered in the dusty remnants of the towers and with Sasuke's blood. Closing the door behind him, he turned on the shower and got in, lathering up everything and letting the water run over him, washing off the dust and blood coating his skin. Then he just stood there under the lukewarm stream of water, tears rolling down his cheeks.**

**This was real. It wasn't a horrible nightmare that he could wake up from… This was his new reality. No more would he call Sasuke during work to bug the hell out of him. No longer would Sasuke and Naruto invite him over to their apartment, though he had to go there soon, to get their cat Furyu and sort through their personal effects. There would be no more laughter, because Sasuke and Naruto were dead. The only comfort Itachi could take was that they had died together and that death had been instant and most likely painless.**

**Climbing out of the shower, he dressed in a clean T-shirt and sweatpants. He picked up the clothes he'd been wearing earlier to take them to Chiyo-baachan to be washed… And he felt something in one of the pockets. He took it out and looked at it.**

**He still had the smashed remains of Sasuke's cell phone, and he held it to his chest as if it would bring his little brother back. The plastic still felt warm in his hands, as if it had just been used.**

**He thought he saw something in the corner of his bathroom, but when he looked up it was gone. Dejectedly he put the broken phone in his pocket and carried his clothes to Chiyo-baachan. Then he got into bed and cried some more. He was still crying when he fell asleep.**

**XXXXXXXXX3**

**There you have it. Survivor's guilt. Itachi's alive while Sasuke isn't. I've experienced survivor's guilt before, but it must have been absolutely unbearable for those who lost loved ones on September 11****th****. Please review…**


	7. Gone Forever

**Chapter 7: Gone Forever**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**September 13, 2001**

**The streets were as busy as always, but everything was quieter somehow. The city was in mourning, along with most of the world. The big screens in Times Square continuously showed footage of the tragedies in New York, and in Washington, DC and Pennsylvania, where a plane possibly intended for the capital building had crashed, killing all the passengers. An ever growing list of the dead was scrawling across the news marquis outside of the CNN headquarters.**

**Itachi avoided Times Square. He had no desire to be assaulted by the images of the tragic occurrences two days ago, so soon after losing his little brother.**

**At the moment he was making his way over to an apartment building overlooking Central Park. He had business on that side of the island… He was supposed to take care of Furyu and go through Sasuke and Naruto's things. It would hurt so soon after their loss, but he wanted to be close to his little brother again, if just for one last time.**

**When he entered, he was met by the doorman.**

"**State your name and business," he said in a monotone.**

"**Itachi Uchiha," said Itachi. "My younger brother Sasuke and his boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki died in the World Trade Center, and I'm here to take care of their cat." He said this while trying not to let his voice tremble.**

"**Of course, sir. I'm so sorry for your loss," said the doorman, bowing and yielding to Itachi.**

**Itachi took the elevator up to the 15****th**** floor, and then located apartment 1573 and put the key Sasuke and Naruto had given him a while back in the lock. When he opened the door he was immediately assaulted by Furyu, who wound herself around his ankles, meowing for attention. He scratched her behind the ears as he shut the door quietly.**

"**It looks like you and I are going to be living together now," he murmured, taking a look around.**

**The apartment looked as if it were still being lived in by people, even though Furyu had been the only one in it for two days. Itachi imagined she must be hungry and lonely. There were dirty dishes in the still open dishwasher in the kitchen, and Furyu's food and water dishes in the dining room were almost empty. Her litter box in the bathroom smelled disgusting, but there was nothing that Itachi had to clean up outside of it.**

**Walking into the family room, Itachi saw a half-eaten bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. Sasuke and Naruto must have watched some kind of movie on September 10, their tenth anniversary, and forgotten to put it in a Ziploc bag or plastic container before they went on to doing other things. Itachi didn't want to think of what "other things" entailed really; he loved his little brother, but what Sasuke and Naruto had or had not done in bed wasn't an aspect of their relationship that he wanted to know or even think about.**

**Nevertheless, when Itachi went into their bedroom he was confronted with evidence of their sexual escapades together. On the floor lay a discarded kimono and obi, and a pair of handcuffs was linked around the bedpost. A translucent white substance was on the rug, and Itachi slightly gagged in his mouth. He'd never known that either Sasuke or Naruto was into bondage, although he figured the kimono was Sasuke's… Occasionally his little brother had liked to put on women's clothes and role-play; that much he knew. The bedsheets were rumpled, and the indentations of bodies were still visible on the mattress, as if someone had just gotten up to get something and would be right back.**

**Everywhere there were pictures of the doomed couple, from vacations and even some from high school when they'd first started dating. There was a picture of Naruto and his long-deceased parents on one side of the wall with the fireplace, then on the other side there was a picture of the Uchiha family the last time they'd had a family portrait taken, when Sasuke must have been ten or eleven. In the middle was a picture of the couple together, laughing about something. Itachi had rarely ever heard Sasuke genuinely laugh, and when he had, it was because of something Naruto had said or done. The memory of his almost musical laughter ringing out like wind chimes caused Itachi another pang of sadness and loss.**

**Sighing, he sat down at the desk and began going through the papers. Most were just bills and stuff, and he'd pay those later. Some were business correspondence, and Itachi didn't know whether to send them or burn them in the fireplace. As he bent down to put them in separate piles on the floor, he bumped his head on the edge of the desk.**

"**Itai!" he hissed, rubbing his head, and punched the desk, causing Furyu, who had been napping quietly, to streak away into the bedroom, hissing like a demon. He regretfully looked after the cat and turned back to the desk.**

**His immediate thought was that he had broken the desk, because a part of it that wasn't supposed to be loose was. But as he went to put it back into place, he realized that there was something inside of it. Curious, he took it out.**

**It was a journal. Opening it up, Itachi was met by Sasuke's meticulously written characters.**

_**July 22, 1998**_

_**It's really nice that Itachi gave me this journal… Of course, it's a little late… My last journal finished three years ago. Better late than never, I guess? Hahaha…**_

_**Yeah, that wasn't funny at all.**_

_**We've just moved into our new apartment in New York City, overlooking Central Park. I couldn't get the dobe to stop bouncing around, so finally I sent him out for some wall paint just to get some peace and quiet. Goddammit, he's so excited, you'd think it was **_**his **_**birthday, which is actually three months away.**_

_**Yeah, he wants to "christen" each peace of furniture and all the floors in our new apartment. Are you fucking kidding me? No way are we having sex on the kitchen table, which is one of the number one things on his list. We have to eat there. It sounds kinky, but no way. Naruto can be so stupid sometimes… Of course, I value emotional stability in a person more than intelligence. Were Naruto not emotionally stable there's no way we could have lasted seven years…**_

_**Shit, he's home. Later…**_

_**Sasuke**_

**Itachi found himself laughing and crying at the same time. Sasuke had always been sarcastic. And the idea of Naruto driving his little brother up the wall was quite funny to think about, seeing as the blonde had done it very well and had been hilarious while doing it.**

_**July 30, 1998**_

_**Well, at least Naruto waited until my birthday was over to tell me that the kitchen is going to be a bright orange. I keep telling him, the only way it's going to be bright orange is over my dead body. I do **_**not**_** want to be assaulted by that disgusting color every time I walk into the damn kitchen. Of course, the fights over colors always seem to end up with us having angry sex on the floor, which interferes with anyone's ability to think clearly… It **_**especially**_** interferes with thinking when you have Naruto's huge dick up your ass.**_

_**I almost couldn't go into work today because my ass was so sore. Can you imagine what that explanation would sound like? "Uh, yes, sir, I was absent yesterday, but it was because my ass was very sore because my horny-ass boyfriend fucked me for half the night before he finally fell asleep with his dick in my ass…" That would go over well.**_

**Itachi paled. He did not need to know that…**

_**But I digress. So I went to work today despite the sore ass, and when I got home, the kitchen was a bright orange. And Naruto was right in the middle of it, covered from head to toe in paint. God I am so pissed off. Naruto's sleeping on the couch tonight and he's going to be looking for a job tomorrow whether he likes it or not. Oh, and I'm having someone come over tomorrow to paint the kitchen a neutral tan. No bright fucking neon orange in this house except as an accent color or I'm gonna flip shit on the dumbass.**_

_**Sasuke**_

**Itachi smirked and snickered. So that was why their refrigerator had small spots of orange on it…**

**The rest of the pages were filled with drawings, both of objects in the apartment and of Naruto and Furyu. Itachi sighed and put the journal on a pile with personal correspondence and continued sorting through the papers.**

**When he was finished sorting it was almost three in the afternoon, and Furyu was mewling. With a pang of guilt, Itachi remembered the litterbox and the food and water bowls.**

**When he was done replacing the cat litter and feeding and watering her, he realized he was hungry. Looking through the cabinets, he found quite a few packets of ramen, which had been Naruto's favorite food, and some miso soup, which Sasuke had loved.**

_**The key word being "had"…**_

**Itachi pushed the depressing thought out of his head and popped a cup of instant ramen in the microwave. When it was done he sat down and started eating it, piling the ramen into his mouth. Were Sasuke and Naruto here they would have snickered at the sight of the stoic elder Uchiha brother shoveling noodles into his mouth.**

**Suddenly he couldn't swallow anymore. His throat was closed up, and he lay his head down on the table and sobbed for the umpteenth time in two days.**

**And then invisible arms were around him. He would be disturbed normally, but the feeling was warm and comfortable. He didn't want it to leave…**

**Slowly it faded away, leaving him colder physically, but warmer emotionally. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, he looked up to see two very faint figures standing there. He couldn't see faces, but he knew who it was by their silhouettes.**

"**Thank you, otouto…" he whispered.**

**The figure on his left nodded in acknowledgement, and then the shadows were gone as suddenly as they had come.**

**Of course Sasuke and Naruto weren't gone. They would always be alive in Itachi's heart, and through his memories… Just not physically…**

**Physically. He had to go identify their bodies at the morgue for the official record. He was dreading it, but he had no choice. If he didn't they'd probably be buried in some unmarked grave, and the thought of that happening was almost enough to make Itachi start crying again.**

**Just then there was a knock on the door. Itachi got up to answer it and was met by his mother and father. Mikoto's eyes were as red as Itachi's were, and Fugaku looked as if he had aged ten years in two days. Without a word, the little family hugged and tried not to think about the fact that there should be four instead of three people in the embrace.**

**When they were done Itachi shut the door behind his parents and without a word ushered them into the living room. They sat down on the couch, looking around at the apartment that their youngest son had lived in with his boyfriend until two days ago. Mikoto saw the family photo on one side of the fireplace, the last one taken before Sasuke had run away, and she began bawling.**

"**My precious baby… Why did it have to be Sasuke?" she sobbed. Itachi's heart broke, watching his mother cry and knowing he couldn't do anything to make it easier for her.**

"**Mom, Dad, I know this is so soon after… after what happened," said Itachi, not wanting to hear himself say those fatal words aloud, "but we have to go to the morgue to claim Sasuke and Naruto for the official record."**

"**What?" said Fugaku. "Why Naruto?"**

**Itachi bristled.**

"**Because one, Naruto doesn't have any surviving relatives, and two, he and Sasuke asked to be buried together. And by together I mean in the same casket."**

"**They can be buried together, but not in the same casket! It isn't done!" said Fugaku, standing up.**

**Itachi lost his temper.**

"**Goddammit Father, have you learned absolutely nothing from the ten years of Sasuke barely speaking to you? I don't care what you think; I am going to honor my little brother's wishes."**

"**I forbid you from putting them in the same casket!"**

"**Well then fuck you!" shouted Itachi. "Disown me! Hate me! Just don't ignore Sasuke's last wishes! I've had it with you and your motherfucking intolerance. Do you how broken up Sasuke was when he called me on the phone nine years back! You hurt him pretty badly, it's a wonder he even called to say goodbye two days ago!"**

"**Stop it!" screamed Mikoto, standing between her husband and her oldest son, who were glaring at each other with murderous intent. "Stop it! Itachi, don't talk to your father that way! And Fugaku, if Sasuke wanted to be buried with Naruto, we're going to do it! There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it! To do otherwise would be disrespecting them and their love for each other!"**

**Itachi felt a rush of gratitude toward his mother. Had she waited any longer he might have physically hurt his father. Fugaku glared daggers at him and Mikoto, but Itachi didn't care. He had more important things to do than sit around fuming about how his father was being a dick in the middle of the family crisis.**

"**Naruto and Sasuke left everything they owned to us and gave me sole ownership of their cat Furyu," he said to his mother, somewhat calmer. "I've been sorting through their papers today, and in their desk I found a few letters addressed to you that Sasuke never sent. Do you want to read them now, or after we go to the morgue?"**

"**A-after," Mikoto said faintly. "Where is the morgue?"**

"**We're about two blocks down from the hospital, where most of the bodies already recovered should be. We can walk there…"**

**Mikoto nodded quietly.**

**XXXXXXXX3**

**7:30 pm, the New York City Hospital morgue**

**The hospital was packed, both with the families of injured people who had been taken out of the World Trade Center complex before the towers came down and with the families waiting to identify their lost loved ones. Itachi pushed his way to the reception desk.**

"**Who are you here for?" said the young nurse tiredly.**

"**I've come here with my parents to identify Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, who died on Tuesday."**

"**The morgue is downstairs, I'm so sorry for your loss," she said in a monotone. Fugaku bristled, but Itachi and Mikoto felt sympathy for her… The last two days must have been extremely hectic, and the poor thing looked like she hadn't slept at all. She had probably lost friends in the EMS squad, and now she had to deal with all these frantic people. She looked like she was going to break down and cry at any moment.**

**The morgue was packed but quiet, save for the screams and sobs of people as they recognized their loved ones among the bodies. Itachi wondered how his mother would take it, seeing Sasuke among them. They combed through the rows, and saw horrible things. Itachi saw a man whose body was burned beyond recognition, save for his gender. In another row he saw a woman who had evidently jumped, because the only thing discernable about her was a well manicured finger, ringed by a wedding band. The rest of her was a bloody pulp, and he pitied the family who identified her as one of their own.**

**As they reached the last of the rows, his mother let out a scream and started running up the aisle. Itachi's eyes welled up with tears again, for there were Sasuke and Naruto, with their hands still linked in a death grip. At least their bodies were miraculously intact. Mikoto dropped to her knees and laid her head on Sasuke's chest, sobbing pitifully.**

"**Sasuke… Sasuke, wake up, honey… Please wake up; don't go scaring me like this… Dammit, Sasuke, please!" Her words turned incoherent as she held the body of her youngest son to her and cried into his hair, which was still matted with blood. Fugaku laid his hand on her shoulder and stared down at his son with tears in his eyes. If he saw the still-linked hands he said nothing about it, for which Itachi was grateful.**

**When Mom had calmed down a little, Itachi got up and went for the coroner.**

"**I'm Itachi Uchiha," he said.**

"**Who are you claiming?" asked the man politely, though he looked just as tired as the receptionist upstairs.**

"**My younger brother Sasuke Uchiha and his boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki."**

"**Were would you like them buried?"**

"**We want them put in a double casket and shipped to Tokyo, Japan for internment."**

"**A double casket, eh?" said the coroner. "They wouldn't happen to be those two men whose hands I couldn't pry apart earlier?"**

**Itachi forced his anger down.**

"**Yes, that would be them. They would not want to be separated from each other even in death."**

"**All right, I'll get the casket. Would you like them cleaned up?"**

"**Yes," said Itachi. "We're hoping for an open-casket funeral."**

"**And do you want them dressed in anything special?"**

"**Don't worry about it, we'll put them in mourning kimonos when we get home."**

"**Very well," said the man, handing him a slip. "I'm sorry for your loss."**

"**Thank you," said Itachi automatically, and he walked back to his parents. Inside he touched the remains of Sasuke's cell phone, which he had taken to carrying with him everywhere, like a kind of talisman.**

_**You're going home, little brother…**_

**8:30 pm, back at Naruto and Sasuke's apartment**

**When they got back to the apartment, Furyu was mewling fit to wake the dead. Itachi wanted to tell her to shut up, but as he walked into the living room he saw a whole lot of blood. Flashbacks of holding his brother in his arms while covered in his blood tore at Itachi's sanity, but he pushed it out of his mind and focused on thinking reasonably.**

**Furyu wasn't dying, as Itachi had wildly assumed at first… She was… giving birth! No way; if she was pregnant Sasuke and Naruto would have told him, wouldn't they? Of course, it was possible they'd forgotten which given the circumstances was completely plausible…**

**Itachi watched as five babies popped out, one after the other. When they were all out Furyu wiped herself on the carpet and set about cleaning the kittens with her tongue. Itachi snapped out of his daze and ran to get a towel from the bathroom. As he ran back he stopped to push Sasuke's kimono and the handcuffs under the bed… He didn't want his mother to have a heart attack if she came in here and discovered vestiges of her youngest son's sex life in plain sight on the floor.**

**When he got back, the kittens were standing on wobbly legs, still extremely wet-looking. He went to go clean Furyu and the kittens off with a towel, but while she was calm-ish while he toweled her off, she hissed and took a swipe at him that opened up the back of his hand. He flinched and glared at her.**

"**Goddamn cat…"**

**Despite the hindrances he managed to clean off each of the babies, revealing their fur colorings. As their mother was calico, the babies were a variety of colors. There was an orange tabby, a grey tiger, a black kitten, a white one, and a brown tiger. They were all clamoring for their mother's attention, mewling feebly, suckling at her nipples, and Itachi felt a kind of calm steal over him as he watched the sight. It was a comfort to see new life in the middle of a time fraught with death and grief, and he smiled a little bit.**

**XXXXXXX3**

**Oh god. I don't believe that I'd ever be able to identify the body of my loved one if they died in an accident or a crash or anything like that. That would be too heart breaking for me. And Fugaku didn't have to be such an asshole about the funeral arrangements. I thought he and Sasuke made up already in chapter four. That just goes to show you how deep homophobia runs in some people…**

**Also, some readers have asked me why I didn't have Sasuke and Naruto survive. My reason is this... No one above the 92nd floor of the north tower survived. The victims in the north tower were over a third of the entire victims count for September 11th. The people in the south tower saw what happened to the north tower and most had evacuated by the time the second plane crashed, so there were fewer victims inside the south tower. Cantor Fitzgerald lost almost 700 employees (all of the people who had been in the offices at the time). So therefore, to have Sasuke and Naruto survive would be historically inaccurate. Second, this is a tragic story about a tragic event, and therefore the happenings in this story are mostly tragic, so as to reinforce the loss felt by the people involved that day.**

**Historically speaking, Jaime Concepcion was a real person, and he worked at Windows on the World, though I don't know if he actually did jump or not. Also, over 200 of the victims from September 11th were jumpers, meaning that they were either blown out of the office windows when the planes crashed, or they were driven to the windows by the intense heat of the fires raging below them and fell, or they took the matter of how they died into their own hands, like Sasuke and Naruto, and jumped.**


	8. Forever in Our Hearts

**Chapter 8: Forever in Our Hearts**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**September 19, 2001, Tokyo, Japan**

**The funeral of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke was a well-attended event. Friends who had known them before they'd moved to the states wept bitterly or reminisced about the fun times they'd had with the couple. Fugaku wondered awkwardly how come everyone except him seemed to know that they'd been a couple since high school.**

**Mikoto had been hospitalized after Sasuke's death when she had an emotional breakdown and tried to kill herself, so she wasn't here. The doctor said it would be a blow to her already fragile health, but Itachi wished she were here… Sasuke would have wanted the whole family there.**

**As for Itachi himself, he was in a corner of the Shinto shrine where the funeral was being held, doing what he'd been doing since his mother had attempted suicide… trying to drown his troubles in sake.**

**The problem was that no matter how many bottle of sake he downed, he couldn't get drunk enough to forget holding his brother's dead body a week ago. Nor could he forget the image of Sasuke and Naruto falling from the 101****st**** floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, or the terror of coming home from the funeral home three days ago and finding his mother on the floor with her wrists slashed.**

"**Ano, Itachi-kun," said a voice beside him. He barely looked up to acknowledge the speaker, his best friend Mizuhashi Konan. "I think you've had enough sake." She took the bottle from his limp hands.**

"**Not enough," he murmured. "I haven't forgotten everything yet. I want to forget about what happened."**

"**Why don't you tell me about it?" Konan suggested softly.**

**Itachi shook his head.**

"**I'll start crying again, and I'm sick of crying. Crying won't bring Sasuke back."**

"**No, but it might help if you get the burden of what you experienced off your shoulders," she said.**

"**It's not going to help," said Itachi, tears in his eyes despite his assertion that he was sick of it. "I got him that job. I failed to protect him. I couldn't even express to him how much I cared about him before he died, even though he told me that he loved me and that it wasn't my fault. All I was able to do was sit on the sidelines and helplessly watch. What kind of big brother does that?"**

"**Listen to me, Itachi," said Konan quietly, soothingly, holding the sobbing man to her chest. "What happened to Sasuke and Naruto wasn't your fault, and both of them would be disappointed if they could see you now. If you weren't a good big brother, would Sasuke have turned to you in difficult situations? He cared about you. Besides, you still have the pictures and the memories. Sasuke won't be gone as long as you keep those close to you."**

**Then she noticed the broken cell phone that Itachi was absent-mindedly fingering.**

"**Was that Sasuke's?"**

**Itachi nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Konan sighed.**

"**Come here," she said, taking Itachi by the hand and drawing him toward the double casket. Itachi unwillingly went… He couldn't bring himself to look at Naruto and Sasuke's bodies again. But sure enough, he found himself standing over the casket, looking down.**

**The funeral director had done a good job preparing for the funeral and viewing. Somehow he'd managed to pry the couple's hands apart and set them into a more relaxed position, with Sasuke's left hand resting in the palm of Naruto's right, and their arms around each other in an embrace. They were both dressed in white yukata, the traditional burial clothing, and if not for what Itachi had seen a week before he would have thought that they were just sleeping.**

"**They look so peaceful," said Konan quietly, smiling sadly. "You almost expect them to sit up and smack us for looking so down, which is exactly what they would do if they were alive."**

**Itachi couldn't argue with that, so he merely nodded.**

"**So you see," Konan pressed on, looking at Itachi shrewdly, "if you don't stop drinking yourself into an early grave and start trying to put your life back together, I'm going to do what Sasuke and Naruto aren't here to do."**

"**And that would be?" the black-haired man asked, raising an eyebrow.**

"**Beat the shit out of you," said Konan seriously.**

**Itachi couldn't help it; he laughed. The idea of Konan, a small woman, beating the shit out of him was rather funny. After a moment Konan laughed with him. When they were done, they wiped their eyes and looked down again.**

"**See? They're smiling too."**

**Sure enough, both Naruto and Sasuke had small smiles on their lips that Itachi had never noticed before. The previously mentioned Uchiha smiled.**

**It would take a while, but it would get easier.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**There it is. We have one more chapter, but so far the story is starting to wrap up nicely. It's a very bittersweet ending, but I think you'll like how the last chapter plays out. Yeah, I've never been to a wake before, but the one funeral I remember going to was heartbreaking. It was for my best friend who died in a car accident two years ago, and the sight of her parents up in the front row crying was unbearable.**

**All right, enough about my life. Stay tuned for the final chapter, please…**


	9. September 11: 10 Years Later

**Epilogue: September 11, 2011, ten years later**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**9:30 am, New York City**

"**Daddy, why can't we go see the museums?"**

"**Patience, Shizuka, we're almost there."**

"**But Daddy, we want to go the children's museum!"**

"**We'll do that later, Sasuke."**

**Itachi walked through the crowd down the street with his wife Konan by his side and each of them was carrying one of their twins. Shizuka took after Konan in looks, but Sasuke looked very much like his namesake, which was why he had gotten the name. Unfortunately, that was the only way in which he was like Itachi's deceased little brother. Whereas Sasuke had been subdued and rather introverted, Itachi's son took after Naruto. Sometimes Itachi swore he was possessed, because he acted so much like the blonde that it was scary.**

**But that was beside the point. Today was September 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary of the day when so many people from all over the world had lost their lives… including Sasuke and Naruto. Itachi wanted to see the new memorial put up where the twin towers had once stood, and to conquer his trepidation of coming back to the place where he'd held his brother's dead body in his arms, stained in his blood.**

**Yes, Itachi still had nightmares about watching Naruto and Sasuke fall, but with counseling it had gotten better. He only had the dreams every once in a while now. Still, he grew squeamish at the sight of blood, and he refused to live in, work in, or visit skyscrapers. The world had been dangerous before 9/11, but now it was much more personal.**

**Itachi had kept Sasuke and Naruto's cat Furyu and two of the kittens. The other kittens had gone to Mom and Dad. Furyu had lived to a ripe old age and had died recently. Her remains were buried in a pet cemetery near the place where Naruto and Sasuke were at rest.**

**His mother had been released from the hospital six months after Naruto and Sasuke's funeral and had been getting better psychologically ever since. Father had become more accepting of homosexuality and had started a foundation that helped homosexual teens come to terms with themselves and deal with the intolerance in their families toward them, called the Uchiha Sasuke Foundation for Homosexual Teenagers. Itachi knew his little brother would be proud of their father.**

"**Itachi, we're here," said Konan, shaking his arm gently. He looked up. At first he thought they were in the wrong part of the city. Everything was so green and beautiful, and the last time he'd been to this spot debris and bodies covered the ground.**

**Slowly he adjusted as they walked through the memorial garden towards the twin waterfalls, each one positioned inside the crater left by each of the towers. Sasuke and Shizuka got excited, running around their parents, begging to go here and there.**

"**Daddy, can we go get a pretzel!"**

"**Mommy, can I have honey covered peanuts!"**

"**No, kids," said Konan firmly. "We're here to pay respects to your uncle."**

"**The one who has my name?" said Sasuke.**

"**That's right, the one you were named after," said Itachi, smiling gently at his son. "My little brother."**

**There were thousands of mourners around the waterfalls, each one searching for the names of their friends and family. Everyone was crying or comforting someone who was. The twins got quieter. They walked by a woman, who had found a loved one or a friend on the wall, and was crying and beating her fists against the stone. Sasuke looked curious, and Shizuka looked scared. Itachi hurried them both past the heartbreaking scene.**

"**Oh Abe," she sobbed as they walked by. "Abe…"**

**The family walked around the stone walls that framed the waterfalls, there in lieu of the north tower. Itachi was frustrated, because nothing was in alphabetical order, meaning that it would take them a while to find Sasuke and Naruto.**

"**Why don't we split up?" suggested Konan. "It might be quicker and easier to find them that way."**

**Itachi nodded.**

**About five minutes later, his cell phone rang.**

"**We found them," Konan said in a choked voice.**

"**Where are you?" asked Itachi.**

"**We're on the east wall, opposite from you."**

"**I'll be right over," said Itachi, and then pocketed his cell phone with a dry feeling in his mouth. Every year at this time he'd gone to Sasuke and Naruto's grave, but he hadn't been here in New York City since ten years ago almost to this day. He was afraid, though he couldn't really say why.**

**About halfway down the east wall, he found them. Sasuke was asking rapid-fire questions, as was his habit, and Shizuka was touching something on the stone. When Itachi got to them, he saw what she was tracing.**

**Etched into each wall of the memorial was a host of names. They weren't alphabetical; they were grouped either with their families or with the people they'd worked with. In the very middle of the east wall were the names of the two people that Itachi had thought about every day for ten years. The names were carved in approximately the same spot where Naruto and Sasuke had hit the ground, and about where Itachi had held his brother's bloody corpse in his arms ten years before.**

_**Naruto Uzumaki, 26**_

_**Windows on the World, Head chef**_

_**Sasuke Uchiha, 27**_

_**Cantor Fitzgerald, President**_

**Itachi took a photograph out of his pocket and put it beside the names. It was a picture that must have been taken during senior year, because that was the only year that Sasuke had gone to any school dances. They both looked so happy, not knowing that at seventeen they had only ten years of their lives left…**

_**It should have been longer,**_** thought Itachi bitterly. **_**Sasuke should have been able to meet his niece and nephew… Maybe he could have adopted a kid with Naruto… They should have grown old together…**_

**He didn't realize he was crying until Konan pulled him into her arms. He let himself go, not caring who saw him. He didn't stop until he felt tugging on his sleeve.**

"**Daddy, look what we made!" said Sasuke and Shizuka in unison, pulling a bunch of paper cranes from their pockets. The cranes looked to be made with both origami paper and trash. Konan and Itachi smiled a little as their children put the cranes next to the photo and stood back, pleased with themselves.**

"**See?" said Shizuka, smiling. "Now they're happy…"**

**Itachi was puzzled.**

"**How do you know…?" he began, but stopped when he felt two hands embrace him.**

**It wasn't Konan, who was still holding him, and Sasuke and Shizuka were still smiling up at their parents, waiting for approval. It reminded Itachi of the day ten years ago, two days after losing his little brother, when he'd been hugged by invisible arms in the kitchen of Naruto and Sasuke's recently vacated apartment. The same comforting and warm feeling stole through him, and when it lifted, he turned.**

**There they were, just like they had been ten years ago in the kitchen. The only difference was that back then they had just been shadows. Today Itachi could see their faces and the details of their outfits.**

**Shizuka was right, Naruto and Sasuke were smiling. Naruto's impish grin never changed, and Sasuke wore a genuine smile, not his usual overconfident smirk. Itachi had forgotten a few things about certain mannerisms, but they came back as he looked upon the ghosts of his little brother and his brother's lover. Slowly he smiled.**

"**Thank you, Otouto. Thank you, Naruto-kun… I miss you…"**

**They smiled understandingly and faded away into nothing, leaving the family staring at an empty spot. Then his son broke the silence.**

"**So can we go now?" Sasuke whined. "I really have to go pee!"**

**Itachi rolled his eyes.**

"**All right, I'll take you."**

"**I need to go too!" wailed Shizuka. Konan and Itachi grinned at each other.**

**Things had gotten better, just like they always knew they would.**

**+Owari+**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX3**

**It's a bittersweet ending, I know. If you don't know, in Asian culture the crane is a symbol of long life, and to put it on the grave or memorial of someone who already has died symbolizes their survival in the hearts of those who love them.**

**I know this was sad.**

**The story is done, but if you're interested the final page is some facts about the World Trade Center tragedy and a few corrections to mistakes that I realized too late. If you want take a look. If you don't that's fine too. But don't forget the people who died on September 11****th****. May the goddess be with you**


	10. Facts and Corrections Page!

**Corrections and Facts Page!**

**All right, I got a few things wrong. But then, that's what I get for using info I got on Wikipedia. It's just minor mistakes, but I feel the need to set them right.**

**1. I was dead-on about the time the north tower was hit and the time it came down. However, the south tower was actually hit at 9:02, and it fell at 9:52, seven minutes earlier than I previously thought and fifty minutes after Flight 175 crashed into it.**

**2. I was inaccurate in that I left Naruto and Sasuke's bodies intact when they hit the ground. The people who jumped or fell turned into bloody puddles when they hit the ground. One survivor at first thought that their remains were pieces of red clothing because the remains looked nothing like human beings. So I did take a little artistic license in their deaths.**

**3. Itachi wouldn't have been able to watch Naruto and Sasuke fall, because once the south tower came down everything was obscured by dust and debris. There was enough airborne debris and smoke that the sky grew dark, and no one could see more than a few feet in any direction, according to one survivor.**

**4. The statistics of September 11****th**** are horrifying. Of over three thousand who died that day, over a thousand alone were at the World Trade Center. Approximately the same number died at the World Trade Center as the number that died when the **_**Titanic**_** sank in 1912 (about 1,300 for the **_**Titanic**_**, and between 1,200 and 1,300 for the World Trade Center).**

**5. Eight of the victims were children, the oldest being eleven and the youngest being two years old. The children were passengers on flights 77, 11, and 175. There were no children on United 93.**

**6. In the south tower, only eighteen people escaped from above the impact zone after the plane hit. In the north tower, no one above the 91****st**** floor escaped because of the solid walls of debris that blocked the stairways.**

**7. A little under half of the victims at the World Trade Center came from Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost over 700 workers (all the workers in the offices at the time of the crash). Those who survived from the upper floors of the north tower did so only by dumb luck, such as being late, or being sick, or having to go down to the lobby to greet clients, such as in the case of one very lucky Cantor Fitzgerald executive.**

**8. As for why the buildings collapsed, it was most likely because in 1968 the New York Port Authority put into place a newer and less fire safety conscious building code for New York City, about a year before the building of the World Trade Center complex began. The steel columns inside were not fireproofed well at all. The people who "fireproofed" it said the fireproofing material would work for at least three hours to keep the steel from melting, and as we know the twin towers stood for much less than that.**

**9. When the towers were built, they were built to withstand the biggest jetliner crashing into them. However, the problem was that in the late sixties and early seventies, the biggest airliner at the time was a Boeing 707. The planes that crashed on September 11****th**** were Boeing 767s, which are much bigger.**

**1o. The stairways were bunched together in the middles of the buildings, making escape in the event of an emergency a very slow-going process, or in the case of those above the 91****st**** floor of the north tower, an impossible task. In the south tower only one of the six total staircases in both buildings, staircase B, was left passable by Flight 175's crash. Very few knew about it, and those who did found it by chance.**

**11. Of the 200-odd people who jumped or fell from the towers, only a few were from the south tower. Most were from above the impact zone in the north tower. Everyone who jumped from above or in the impact zones was killed on contact with the ground.**

**12. The World Trade Center complex was built only a few blocks away from the old Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where in 1911 (90 years before September 11****th****) many workers (mostly females) perished in a horrible fire that spread from the 8****th**** to the 10****th**** floor. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was most likely started by an errant spark from one of the sewing machines on the workroom floor. Most of the people who died there either jumped, were crushed, suffocated, or burned to death, like those in the north tower on September 11****th****.**

**13. The hijackers had all become legalized US citizens, and had been trained in the same flight school, one that was either in Arizona or Texas.**

**14. The impact zone in the north tower stretched from the 93****rd**** to 99****th**** floor. The impact zone in the south tower stretched from the 78****th**** to the 86****th**** floor.**

**(Most facts and figures courtesy of **_**102 Minutes: The Struggle for Survival inside the Twin Towers**_**)**

**Well, that's all, you guys. I hope that you liked reading this story as much as I liked writing it. Well, I don't like what happened that day, but I think that I wrote this story well and that I have license to be proud of my work. I'm sorry if it sounds like bragging, but I really do think this is one of my better stories.**

**Please review, and if you have any more facts about September 11****th**** that I don't know, please write to me so I can add them to my profile or to this list of facts up here.**


	11. Review Chapter

This is my review page! It may not be as interesting as the actual story, but I said I'd post the reviews in my story. I haven't had time before now, so here it is! (Reviews are in no particular order.) (I am not adding any more reviews to this page because I need the space in the document manager for my zombie fanfic, sorry, guys...)

Wolf of Summer

This is an amazing story. I love Itachi's point of view throughout...Thank you.

TenTenDestiny101

I loved the story so much. I actually cried from when Sasuke and Naruto jumped and on. That was really nice that you wrote a fanfiction about the terrorist attack. I may not have lost a loved one in that attack because I was about two or three years old at the time but my dad was one of the paramedics on scene at the time. I remember he came home crying so hard because he couldn't save all those people and he lost his partner that day. My mother was so worried about my father as she was watching the news. My father had nightmares for weeks about what he witnessed. I really appreciate what you did and bless the souls that have died or lost loved ones.

Angel-Damian

That was a very beautiful fanfiction. I greatly enjoyed this. And it definitely made me cry. I hope to continue reading many of your stories.

YukiKagami

So sweet T.T

HelloKittyLover12343

This is my official number one Tragedy love story between Naruto and Sasuke. I was reading this during school in my study hall... I never knew that during chapter five I was literally sobbing and didn't find out till my teacher asked me to go to the nurses office to calm down... that was three days ago. Up until now almost everything reminds me of 9/11and how things truly relate to this story... thank you for the greatest story ever!  
>PS. I'm still crying today<p>

Anon

Oh my, such an emotional story. You had me crying all the way throughout it. It hit deep. Thanks for sharing.

Stella -rAWr- Uzumaki

This was an extremely touching, beautiful, sad and sweet story! I loved it so much. You did a fantastic job here, Sasaki-sempai! :)

satako-san

I have read many fanfics this is the second one I've read that made me cry this hard.

Atheina

I'm glad you wrote this. It was a very sad day in history, and it's important to remember it. I cried during it a few times because I think it's hard to read this knowing it actually happened, and that I was alive during it and remember that day is part of it. Thank you for sharing this story with us.

Teagsiebabe85

This story was just absolutely heartbreaking. I really, really liked it though, I'm not usually a fan of tragedy stories, but this fanfiction has just brought me to tears at the beauty of it.

Ellisama

I have tears in my eyes... wonderful

Nariki

Oh fuck. This was so sad... During the middle of chapter 2, I was sort of hoping that you'd take the liberty of changing the ending, where they survived and everything would be ok. I loved this.

Nariki

I know that you couldn't change the fact that they died, but a girl can hope. In fact, I've had several daydreams where they live happily ever after. And then have amazing smutty bondage smex.

Danie Alleen

Wow, I cried a lot with this fanfic.  
>Almost felt in the story, I felt the anguish that whoever was inside the towers felt.<br>I am Brazilian and I remember like it was today when I turned on the television and saw duty in everything that was happening here in the U.S.  
>Bela fanfic, I loved it.<br>Sorry for bad English, but speak a language other than Portuguese has never been my high point.

warmiko69

oh my i almost cried for the whole thing but loved it.

Aerianna69

This story is one of the few that I could find that actually had me close to tears. I remember these days and the horror it put in me that some human beings are capable of doing. I love this story even though it has a sad ending.

Nivell

I teared up...still a very sad period in recent history.

melissaveneziano

I loved this story never have I cried so hard and much during a fanfiction story thanks for this beautiful piece of work

delena anderson

this is a really touching story! i can honestly say that ive never cryed this hard from reading a story! great job!

Whitesoulninja69

It's so sad it's cool! Your AMAZING AT WRITING! I wish all luck to the souls in that accident.

This is the official end of the story. That's all she wrote, there is no more, so no use knocking at my door. Thank you for sticking with me, even when the story made you cry, and thank you for reviewing!


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